New Year New Loan

With 2015 starting, it’s a great time to decide what your financial resolutions are. What are your financial goals for this year, and how do you hope to get there.

For some of you, it might be a new car purchase. For others, it’s finally time to take that desired trip to the Caribbean.

Here are a few tips to help guide your through making those financial choices this year.

1. Write it down

When doing goal setting, the first and most important thing to do is write down your goals. It sounds simple, but you’d be surprised how effective this simple task can be.

We’re not saying, write it down and bury it under a large stack of papers, but write it down and make it visible.

Put a sticky note on the edge of your desktop monitor, hang a large note on your refrigerator, or post a laminated note in your shower. Be sure to make your note visible, to remind you everyday of what your goal for the year is.

2. Make it real

Now that you know what you want to accomplish, the next step is to make it as real as possible. We’re not talking pipe dreams, we’re talking about making your goal realistic and attainable.

Part of the success of meeting our goals is making sure that we know that they are actually attainable, and that you can visualize meeting that goal.

What exactly does it look like meeting your goal? Make it real. Make it visually tangible, and you’ll find that the obstacles that might sidetrack you along your way will be quite obvious and able to be bypassed.

3. Fund It

This step is often overlooked, but just like a successful Fortune 500 company, you need a financial blue print to execute your goal.

Maybe your goal is to reduce credit card debt in 2015; well, you’ll need to track your expenditures and develop a budget to make that happen.

If your goal is to travel overseas, you’ll need to have a savings plan in place, or the ability to find the money you need to help make your vacation happen.